While it originally appeared Connor Brown would return to the Oilers’ lineup for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday, his availability is again in question. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters Tuesday that Brown is now a game-time decision for the contest due to an illness, reports Chris Johnston of The Athletic.
Brown missed the last two games of the Western Conference Final after being hit in the head by Stars defenseman Alexander Petrovic during Game 3 of the series. During the regular season, Brown posted 13 goals and 30 points while skating in all 82 games. He’s contributed a strong five goals and eight points over 14 playoff games.
Elsewhere in the Pacific Conference:
- The Vancouver Canucks and new head coach Adam Foote continue to overhaul the coaching staff and are expected to hire Kevin Dean as an assistant coach, per Thomas Drance of The Athletic. Dean, a former assistant for the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins, is known for his ability to coach defense, something that Foote is clearly familiar with as well. With Vancouver having a host of young, talented defenders, it makes sense that they would go after Dean, who Drance notes was highly sought after this spring.
- While defensively responsible forwards like Yanni Gourde and Noah Cates are landing lucrative deals around the league, there appears to be no progress between the Canucks and pending free agent Pius Suter on a new contract, Drance reports. Suter, who recorded a career high 25 goals and 46 points this season, is perhaps best known for his strong defensive play, highlighted by receiving Selke Trophy votes for the first time in his career. Coming off his first 20-goal season, Suter now brings the kind of versatility that could make him one of the more sought-after names on the open market. While Vancouver has a little more than $12 million in cap space (per PuckPedia), they will likely have to cut that figure in half if they hope to retain Suter.
Liked Suter’s game when he was a Hawk. Not really sure why he fell out of favor here but hey I wish him luck. He can play.
Completely agree! Wish we held on to him.
Yanni Gourde got a lucrative deal? In years maybe, but not dollars. He took a discount to stay in Tampa and a better tax situation.
Agree x2. Suter is always invloved in the play. Solid player.
Sounds like Connor Brown is dealing with the effects of a serious concussion.
For Suter, something in the 6 million range seems totally fair. I wish the Blues could afford him. 20 goal potential with strong defense? I’ll take that.
Yeah, but here’s the counterargument. Suter shot far over his career average shooting percentage. He’s always been mediocre at the dot and got a lot worse this year. He doesn’t particularly play physically. Six million is an overpay.
@Nha Trang — Kind of looks like contract year numbers, don’t they? That FO% is pretty underwhelming, as you stated.